Base Attack Bonus 20?

[Chris222]

Is reaching level 20 in Fighter, Barbarian, etc… the only ways to reach bab 20? I want to try to use Elemental Master but I dont think we are reaching epic levels in the current campaign.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If you don't think you'll be reaching epic levels, then how could you try out a prestige class that you can't even start taking until level 21+?

That's a prestige class for dragons, dragon racial HD give full BAB so any dragon with at least 20 racial HD can qualify. Monsters don't follow the same rules as PCs for advancing.

[Rebel7284]

- Reaching level 20 in fighter or barbarian is one of the weaker ways of getting there. There are a lot of classes and prestige classes that have a full BAB progression.
- You can also use one of the many ways to reduce metamagic costs to apply Persistent Spell to Divine Power and have 20 BAB regardless of class (however, you need to beware of (Greater) Dispel Magic and co.)

If you are specifically trying to get 20BAB before effective character level 20, that is very difficult to do. About the only way I know if hiring a War Chanter to perform Inspire Legion 24/7 otherwise Polymorph + Dusk Giant or similar creature that can increase its HD.

[Telonius]

There aren't very many ways to increase base attack bonus even temporarily, and only one I know of that would increase it permanently, other than leveling up. The spells Divine Power and Tenser's Transformation can increase it temporarily. So will a level-10 War Chanter (with at least one ally who already has BAB 20). But neither of those would help with meeting the prerequisite for the prestige class. (There are some other ways of bumping up a low BAB, like a Skillful Weapon, but those would only get you to 0.75 BAB).

The only permanent way I know of doing it would be to contract lycanthropy. Becoming a lycanthrope adds the were-critter's BAB to yours. Unfortunately if you're aiming for Elemental Master, you need to be a Dragon, and Dragon isn't a valid target for lycanthropy.

[pabelfly]

Is reaching level 20 in Fighter, Barbarian, etc… the only ways to reach bab 20? I want to try to use Elemental Master but I dont think we are reaching epic levels in the current campaign.

To note: you don't increase BAB after level 20. If you are at level 20 with 15 BAB, for example, you won't get that fourth iterative attack for having 16 BAB after level 20 regardless of what classes you take. There are scaling bonuses to attack rolls that get added to your character in Epic, but this isn't BAB and doesn't give you extra attacks.

[Chronos]

You probably already know this, but you can also mix and match any number of full BAB classes. One level each of fighter, barbarian, paladin, ranger, swashbuckler, hexblade, samurai, crusader, warblade, knight, duskblade, soulborn, battledancer... Hm, there must be seven more full-BAB base classes out there...

Not that I'd actually recommend a one-level-of-everything multiclass, but it'd work. And good martial builds do usually include a fair bit of multiclassing.

[ciopo]

Meet a Kensai with enough levels to known Instill, get instilled with his BAB/base saves.

It's actually a self sustaining "early entry" trick, your master before you was a kensai, and your disciple after you is a kensai, thus do a build entering kensai at 2nd levle ;)

[Pezzo]

[cheese]
dragonwrought kobold cloistered cleric 5 / uncanny trickster 2 loop
Will increase you effective uncanny trickster level, that could count as an effective character level increase, persist divine power.
[/cheese]

[Biggus]

To note: you don't increase BAB after level 20. If you are at level 20 with 15 BAB, for example, you won't get that fourth iterative attack for having 16 BAB after level 20 regardless of what classes you take. There are scaling bonuses to attack rolls that get added to your character in Epic, but this isn't BAB and doesn't give you extra attacks.

Sort of. Epic Attack Bonus counts as BAB for all purposes except increasing the number of attacks per round you can make. There are many references in the ELH to BABs higher than +20.

[Remuko]

Sort of. Epic Attack Bonus counts as BAB for all purposes except increasing the number of attacks per round you can make. There are many references in the ELH to BABs higher than +20.

Yeah RHD BAB progresses beyond 20, it only stops if they have/take class levels, then they get Epic Attack Bonus instead. A 24HD Dragon has BAB +24.